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TOPIC: "Not Autistic or Hyperactive. Just Seeing Double at Times" (NY Times 9/11/2007) Ref. "Convergence Insufficiency"


Diamond

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"Not Autistic or Hyperactive. Just Seeing Double at Times" (NY Times 9/11/2007) Ref. "Convergence Insufficiency"
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Since I posted my issue on Convergence Insufficiency, some of you have said family members are experiencing similar symptoms.

Here are a couple of sources of information that I found helpful:

Wikipedia
Convergence Insufficiency on Prodigy.net - great summary.
ConvergenceInsufficiency.org Great info on symptoms and treatment. An excerpt follows:

What are the symptoms of Convergence Insufficiency?

A person who has convergence insufficiency may show and/or complain of the following while doing close work (i.e., reading, computer work, deskwork, playing handheld video games, doing crafts, etc.)
- eyestrain (especially with or after reading)
- headaches
- blurred vision
- double vision
- inability to concentrate
- short attention span
- frequent loss of place
- squinting, rubbing, closing or covering an eye
- sleepiness during the activity
- trouble remembering what was read
- words appear to move, jump, swim or float
- problems with motion sickness and/or vertigo.

Article below tells you what it feels like and how it is often misdiagnosed. Often you are told you do not focus... and you do not, bec it is painful.  You physically cannot focus, so you skim constantly.  It is often misdiagnosed as ADD, ADHD, "intense" (bec you are jumping around constantly), and even as depression - well, it is not depression at all!!! 


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"
September 11, 2007

Not Autistic or Hyperactive. Just Seeing Double at Times

Correction Appended

As an infant, Raea Gragg was withdrawn and could not make eye contact. By preschool she needed to smell and squeeze every object she saw.

“She touched faces and would bring everything to mouth,” said her mother, Kara Gragg, of Lafayette, Calif. “She would go up to people, sniff them and touch their cheeks.”

Specialists conducted a battery of tests. The possible diagnoses mounted: autism spectrum disorder, neurofibromatosis, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety disorder.

A behavioral pediatrician prescribed three drugs for attention deficit and depression. The only constant was that Raea, now 9, did anything she could to avoid reading and writing.

Though she had already had two eye exams, finding her vision was 20/20, this year a school reading specialist suggested another. And this time the optometrist did what no one else had: he put his finger on Raea’s nose and moved it in and out. Her eyes jumped all over the place. (Emphasis added)

Within minutes he had the diagnosis: convergence insufficiency, in which the patient sees double because the eyes cannot work together at close range. (Emphasis added)

Experts estimate that 5 percent of school-age children have convergence insufficiency. They can suffer headaches, dizziness and nausea, which can lead to irritability, low self-esteem and inability to concentrate. (Emphasis added)

Doctors and teachers often attribute the behavior to attention disorders or seek other medical explanations. Mrs. Gragg said her pediatrician had never heard of convergence insufficiency.

Dr. David Granet, a professor of ophthalmology and pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego, said: “Everyone is familiar with A.D.H.D. and A.D.D., but not with eye problems, especially not with convergence insufficiency. But we don’t want to send kids for remedial reading and education efforts if they have an eye problem. This should be part of the protocol for eye doctors.”

In 2005, Dr. Granet studied 266 patients with convergence insufficiency. Nearly 10 percent also had diagnoses of attention deficit or hyperactivity — three times that of the general population. The reverse also proved true: examining the hospital records of 1,700 children with A.D.H.D., Dr. Granet and colleagues found that 16 percent also had convergence insufficiency, three times the normal rate.

“When five of the symptoms of A.D.H.D. overlap with C.I.,” he said, “how can you not step back and say, Wait a minute?”

Dr. Eric Borsting, an optometrist and professor at the Southern California College of Optometry who has also studied the links between vision and attention problems, agreed. “We know that kids with C.I. are more likely to have problems like loss of concentration when reading and trouble remembering what they read,” he said. “Doctors should look at it when there’s a history of poor school performance.”

Dr. Stuart Dankner, a pediatric ophthalmologist in Baltimore and an assistant clinical professor at Johns Hopkins, said that children should be tested for convergence difficulty, but cautioned that it was not the cause of most attention and reading problems.

Dr. Dankner recommended an overall assessment by a psychologist or education specialist. “An eye exam should be done as an adjunct,” he said, “because even if the child has convergence difficulty, they will usually also have other problems that need to be addressed.”

Doctors recommend a dilated eye exam and a check of eye teaming and focusing skills. Testing includes using a pen or finger to test for the “near point of convergence,” as well as a phoropter, which uses lenses and prisms to test the eyes’ ability to work together. (Emphasis added)

There is no consensus on how to treat convergence insufficiency. Next spring, the National Eye Institute will announce the results of a $6 million randomized clinical trial measuring the benefits of vision therapy in a doctor’s office versus home-based therapy.

For Raea Gragg, the treatment was relatively simple. For nine months she wore special glasses that use prisms to help the eyes converge inward. She then had three months of vision therapy. She has just entered fourth grade and is reading at grade level.

“Raea didn’t know how to describe it because that’s all she’s ever known,” her mother said. “She felt like she had been telling us all along that she couldn’t see, but nobody listened.”

Correction: October 4, 2007

An article in Science Times on Sept. 11 about convergence insufficiency, in which a patient sees double because the eyes cannot work together at close range, misidentified the specialty of the doctor who diagnosed and treated the problem in Raea Gragg. The doctor, Carl Hirsch, who was not identified in the article, is an optometrist, not an ophthalmologist.

"

Source link

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This is very easy to miss; very easy to misdiagnose.  [Go to the doctors... and you may go through MRI, tests for low BP, vitamin disorders, vertigo, stress, you name it, they will name everything and get you tested... but no one tells you it is just an eye coordination problem!]

I am a reasonably self-aware person, but never expected it to be eye disorder bec I always wore glasses and supposedly have 20/20 vision with glasses; well yes I did, except it was incredibly stressful on my eyes to converge and focus; small mundane task of reading was quite stressful on eyes -- and now I know just how difficult it really was!  LOL

Ideally, this is diagnosed in youth, but it is so easy to not catch!!  My first dizzy spell was when I was in middle school, and it was also first thing in the morning in bending down i.e., having the need to refocus!  In looking back, there is a lot of commonality across every one of the dizzy episodes.  One of the more recent symptoms was uncontrollable waves of sleep and falling asleep mid-activity for 5-10-20 minute segments - I would literally plop on top of books, computer, whatever it is that I am trying to focus on, the eyes and brain would just give up.

I am very thankful to finally have correct diagnosis and real corrective glasses.  It has made a world of a difference in just 3 days!!  One thing my kid is noticing is that I am not batting my eyes quite as much as before, and you can imagine, there are many other things different in life already with the benefit of these new glasses. I have had no headaches/irritability in 3 days! Just incredible!!  EyeDoc has suggested vision therapy; I am not sure it is needed but am considering it.  So far the new glasses have done marvels! I am hoping that I do not need that vision therapy thing and can do some eye exercises at home.

If you know anyone who is experiencing similar symptoms, at least have them get checked specifically for this before you put them on all kinds of dizziness/stress medication which all have side effects especially when they are unnecessary.

--------

Added a couple of reference items.



-- Edited by Sanders on Friday 1st of January 2010 03:59:14 PM

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Very interesting Sanders. Both my kids have been treated for ADD, which I do believe they had as children, and continue to deal with as young adults. One of them really fits the symptom profile for CI, however. I have never heard of this disorder, but will doing more research, for sure. Thanks for providing this info, and the additional references, as well.

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Diamond

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freespirit, Be sure to get it checked by a real opthalmologist. Not any of those quick tests in the mall or Walmart. 

I can tell you I have been told any number of things:  ADD, Hyper, intense, too smart(!), jumpy eyes (which is ALL GONE!!), "focus!" (I mean, the outcome is noticeable even if I am in chat rooms!), "you are too stressed (and I was, my eyes were! LOL).

It is difficult to explain what it was like.  It used to be like I was in a haze all the time - just a bit spaced out and a nagging headache.  Now, get this... that's all I have known, forever!  So, I did not know it can be different!  LOL. A really good eyedoc just happened to open shop nearby, and I totally lucked out.

One of the biggest signals is constantly missing your spot in reading, and having to re-read sentences.  It was CONSTANT for me, and I would invariably have to skim read as a result.   If forced to read in full, I had to read the text four times over to really get it fully (also compounded by language issue).

Now, with the prisms added in my glasses, I can read in a single pass without missing words or lines even once! Huge positive impact on life!!

__________________
Democracy needs defending - SOS Hillary Clinton, Sept 8, 2010
Democracy is more than just elections - SOS Hillary Clinton, Oct 28, 2010

Madam Secretary Blog at ForeignPolicy.com
Project Vote Smart - Stay informed and engaged!


Diamond

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Posts: 4567
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I am very lucky! Just opened my snailmail and found that my insurance company has approved eye therapy. It is called "Orthoptic Therapy" - 12 sessions! The doctor had told me that my case is severe and is likely to be approved. Of course when he said that I really did not believe it. The cost is quite big. So, this is really great.

Meanwhile, as you know, I had gotten the glasses. These glasses have made such a huge positive difference in life. I can actually say that I look at life through my rosy glasses!! LOL. Really, I wish we had this diagnosed sooner. But better late than never. LOL. Happiness is having the correct glasses, folks! LOL.

__________________
Democracy needs defending - SOS Hillary Clinton, Sept 8, 2010
Democracy is more than just elections - SOS Hillary Clinton, Oct 28, 2010

Madam Secretary Blog at ForeignPolicy.com
Project Vote Smart - Stay informed and engaged!
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